Denver wedding, portrait, and commercial photographer

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Greg and Kelsey’s big day started under clear blue skies in downtown Breckenridge. There was a crispness in the air as the first day of autumn was only a couple days away. Kelsey was preparing for the day with the help of her bridesmaids and family while Greg and the groomsmen were relaxing watching college football one floor below at the BlueSky Resort.

As Kelsey added her final touches to hair and makeup, Greg made his way down to a remote path at the base of Peak 9 of Breckenridge, where he anxiously waited to get the first glimpse of his beautiful bride. After a few quiet moments together, they were joined by their bridal party and family for pictures. The energy and love Greg and Kelsey share fed the energy of everyone around them. Never before, did I have more fun photographing the family portion. Usually, those images are very traditional and most people are just trying to get through them. Greg and Kelsey’s families had so much fun during this time, goofing around with each other. They made for some great, unique family portraits.

After pictures, family and friends had time to relax and get settled in their seats while Greg and Kelsey did final touches before they walked down the aisle. Kelsey and her bridesmaids, in relaxed fashion, had a champagne toast in their hotel room before making their way down.

The ceremony took place on a beautiful afternoon just on the BlueSky Resort terrace.

During the ceremony, Greg and Kelsey placed a bottle of wine into a wine box handmade by Kelsey’s father with love letters that they had written to each other. They promised to create a tradition to open the wine box on every anniversary and read the previous year’s love letters while they share a new bottle of wine.

After Greg and Kelsey had their first kiss as a married couple, they made their way down the aisle to cheers from their family and guests and to cocktail hour, where they spent time saying hello to guests and taking a few family pictures.

After a buffet dinner with wonderful food, a heartwarming toast from Kelsey’s sister, and a memorable and humorous toast from the best man; Kelsey and Greg made their way to cut the cake and open the dance floor. Kelsey and Greg made the most of this time dancing and spending time with friends and family.

At the end of the night, Greg and Kelsey made their way out of the reception hall through a sparkler exit held by all the attendees. It was a great end to a perfect day.

These days, it is extremely popular for clients to want a cd or dvd with the images taken at a session for them to print. This is a very sensitive topic for me personally.

I think purchasing all the files for a wedding can be a very valuable thing. It is the only way you will get full access to all of your images. This is an awesome thing to have that charts one of the most important days of your life that was available in past generations. I think it is an incredible tool, but should not be the only thing that makes up a wedding package. It is important to have high quality products to display in your new home with your significant other. There is an a lot of work that goes into creating a perfect file and having it produced at one of the best labs in the country that really blow people away when they see them.

While I think the disc is an awesome thing for weddings, I don’t have the same feelings toward it for family and high school senior sessions. These types of sessions are not documenting such an important day in your life. The point of these types of sessions is to capture personalities and relationships and to share these moments with friends and loved ones.

It is important to me to not only provide a service but provide quality products that my clients will be proud to display in their homes for years, whether it be prints, books, or fine art pieces.

People ask me all the time during a pre-session consultation if a disc is available for purchase. I always ask why they want the disc. I am still yet to get a real concrete answer. It is always, “I don’t know,” or “Just to have it.” I even know of clients coming back for sessions later on and not asking for the disc. Their reason – they never did anything with it and would rather spend their money for something they can be proud of and show off to visitors to their home.

All I want is for my clients to be happy, so if a disc is the best option, we can definitely discuss options, but I want my clients to be informed so they do not have any buyers remorse. I know social media is blowing up, and there are other cost effective options available that can still give you options to share the images digitally with low-res files and still helps people to be able to afford great products that can be displayed for years.

Honestly, I would be aware of photographers who only offer the disc. I think that is one thing that really separates the amateurs from the true professionals. If I were to just shoot and burn files, the images would not come out nearly as well as if I spend a few hours in the digital darkroom. Compare it to your favorite restaurant. You don’t try and pay for the recipe of the meal you want; because you trust the professional chefs to prepare it to the best it can be because of their experience and expertise.

A lot of brides, when comparing photographers will say to me, “This other photographer says that they will take 2 to 3 thousand pictures at my wedding. How many will you take?”

My short answer – Not even half of that. And here is why:

For the average wedding, clients will receive about 600-800 proofs. I really try to stay closer to 600. This is a good number that covers the entire day from many angles, yet not overwhelming when you have to pick out which images to print.

When you get 2000-3000 images, you will have a lot of pictures that almost look identical. For example, if a photographer shot a wedding for 8 hours, and offered you 3000 images, he would be taking a picture every 10 seconds. The only way to achieve this is to hold the shutter down and take about 5 pictures for every shot. Imagine trying to pick 100 images for an album when you have this many images that almost look identical.

Also, it can be a bit of a nuisance to hear the camera shooting this way at the ceremony. A pro-style camera, are quiet, but not silent as they are built a little more rugged to withstand harsher conditions.

One thing I am quite proud of is that I learned photography on film. In the film days, one would never shoot like this because it would be far too expensive to shoot a wedding. When I was shooting medium-format, it was about a dollar every time I pulled the trigger. I also did not have the luxury of seeing what I shot instantly. I had to trust that when the film was developed, I had captured what I intended. This taught me how to anticipate the moment a little bit better. I may not take as many shots, but I have the confidence that I will get the “right” shot.

My background also comes from shooting live sports. This also has helped me anticipate and pull the shutter before its too late.

600-800 images shows the entire day from getting ready to the last dance and will help you, the customer, when it comes time to pick images for an album or for print. To view an entire wedding from start to finish, just email me, travis@travisjphoto.com, and see what you can expect from full day coverage at your wedding.

I started a blog almost two years ago and have never actually stuck with it. One of my goals in 2014 is to actively post different topics in hopes to give clients tips as well to see a more personal side of the company. We are starting with a couple of my favorite images I took in 2013 that were not related to any client. Sometimes I need to remind myself to just go out and shoot for fun.

Pinterest is changing the way wedding professionals do business. I think there are two ways to deal with this. We can embrace it or run from it. I think all wedding professionals, not just photographers, have a sense of pride in their work and how they choose to run their business.

It’s important to remember that even though we think our visions are the best, the day is not about us. Brides have had a vision in their heads about their wedding day long before they hired us. At the same time, they hired us for a reas

on. They obviously like our style, work, and personalities. It’s important to come up with original ideas at every wedding and create beautiful products that we vision. It is equally important to re-create the visions in the brides head.

I love when clients send me ideas that they have. It use to be shots out of a magazine, and now they can show me their Pinterest page. I love to learn about how they anticipate the day, as well as learning their styles. I always try to put a unique twist on images, so that it is original to them, but still gives them the look and feel that they were looking for.

I like to think the most important part of any type of session is not the end results. I hope that all my clients have fun during their sessions. In all honesty, the more fun you have, the better your images will turn out. The best images are always the candids when people just forget about the camera and interact with each other.

That being said, here are a few tips to enjoy your session.

1. – Stop worrying about how the images will turn out. Just worry about relaxing, enjoying some time away from work, and spending time with your family.

2. – Expect to sit in the grass, roll your pants up and get in the water, and deal with some rain drops, cloudy skies, snow, and hot or cold weather. This is what makes your images different than anybody else’s. Just embrace it and go with it.

3. – When dealing with larger groups – pay attention to the camera. Don’t worry about the squirrel in the tree to the left of you. It’s funny how many shots get thrown when I get a 2 year old, a five year old, and your golden retriever looking and smiling, but Mom and Dad are looking off into space.

4. – Don’t tell me you don’t take good pictures because you won’t with that mindset. Just forget about the camera and you may be surprised.

I would like to come back to this topic some more in the future. Until then, hopefully these tips will help everyone have more fun (because that is what is most important to me) and in result better images will be produced.

I got into professional portrait photography through high school senior pictures. I worked for a studio for over 4 years and then branched out on my own concentrating on weddings and families. This spring I decided to get back into senior pictures and I’m remembering how much fun it can be. I also am learning how fast it can change.

High schoolers have different demands and different style then even two years ago. Photographing seniors is really allowing me to push my style in a new direction as well as experiment with new techniques. Every senior wants their images to be different and stand out from everybody else’s. It’s vital to do every session differently and I’m quickly remembering why this job can be so much fun.